Speakers of Parliaments present in Geneva

At the 111th IPU Assembly, more than 450 parliamentarians from 115 countries, including 29 Speakers of parliaments and 133 women parliamentarians, discussed an emergency agenda item entitled "The alarming situation in Iraq and theneed for parliamentary action to restore peace and security in this country". The item was proposed by the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the support of the Asia-Pacific Group. Two other proposals were made on the subject of the crisis in Darfur, but they were subsequently withdrawn.

INTERVIEW WITH AHMED IBRAHIM EL-TAHIR, SPEAKER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SUDAN.

"It is the role of the Pan-African Parliament to assist the African Union in handling the situation in Darfur"

Q: Mr. Speaker, were you disappointed by the fact that the situation in the Sudan and more precisely in the Darfur region was not accepted as an emergency item?
Ahmed Ibrahim El-Tahir: I was not. We had already contacted the delegation of South Africa to coordinate in this field. We want to handle this situation with our friends from the African Groups, to unify our opinion in Africa, because the African Union is handling this situation. It is the role of the Pan-African Parliament to assist the African Union in handling this situation. It is better to have it first discussed in the Pan-African Parliament, which is having its first session in Johannesburg. It will start its activity by addressing this problem in Darfur, and then perhaps there will be a chance to present the problem elsewhere. For this reason only, we agreed with the South African delegation to withdraw the proposal from the IPU's agenda.

Q: Don’t you think that you could have had all the delegations present in Geneva addressing this issue?
A.I.E-T.: Yes, we know that, but there are some people who have negative attitudes towards the Sudan, especially in the Western medias and forums. I don’t think Darfur is the issue for that, but it is now being used as an issue to justify intervention in the Sudan by some countries. So if we can unify our opinion in Africa, that will put the case back on the right track.

Q: What can be the solution for the terrible situation in Darfur?
A.I.E-T.: In the Sudan we have our plan to stabilise the country, first by deploying about 9,000 policemen from all over the Sudan in the area to help in the security management of this area. The security is now far better than what it used to be six months ago, except the special area occupied by the rebel movement. Otherwise, Darfur is quite stable. The other factor is that we must facilitate international assistance in the humanitarian field in Darfur, and we are doing it openly for the whole world to see. We also tolerated visits by all sorts of officials and organisations to Darfur. We have a plan to rehabilitate the villages in Darfur and to rebuild them in a more healthy way so as to make the people feel more comfortable in their traditional villages. The other thing is that we are holding peace talks with the rebel movement. If we can succeed in that, it will put an end to the conflict in Darfur.

Q: How can you help the victims?
A.I.E-T.: There are many camps for displaced people, but many of them are voluntarily returning back to their villages. We are helping them first by taking security measures to let them go to their villages and also by giving them humanitarian assistance: food, medicine, etc. The people of Darfur are hard workers, they are farmers and cattle herders, so they just need this step to go back to their normal life. This is the way to handle the situation and to channel international assistance in this field.

MRS. RAFAT BAYAT, MEMBER OF THE ISLAMIC CONSULTATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, EXPLAINS WHY HER DELEGATION PRESENTED AN EMERGENCY ITEM ON IRAQ.

"Everybody has the right to live in basic conditions of human dignity"

Q: Why did the Iranian delegation present an emergency item on Iraq at the 111th IPU Assembly?
Rafat Bayat: Because the IPU is an important organisation dealing with human rights, peace and security for the entire humanity. Everybody has the right to live in basic conditions of human dignity, and if we think about the environment of the Iraqi people, about the situation of Iraqi women and children, we see that they do not live in good conditions in terms of nutrition, education, training, employment, etc.

Q: In the Islamic Republic of Iran, what is the situation of women after the latest elections?
R.B.: Because we have the Constitution, no fundamental changes took place for the women or other groups in the country. But we can, for example, have some changes in the training field, in order to have better conditions forwomen in terms of jobs. We can also change some conditions in the field of education to improve the situation. Women increasingly understand which problems they can solve by themselves. They can give ideas to parliament, and we have to make sure that the parliament will work on those ideas and pass laws. It is our right, as women in Iran, to participate in different areas: in the economic and political fields and in the field of education. Islam does not impose any condition forbidding people and women from participating in politics. In some regions, and not only in Islamic countries, it is a matter of men’s ideology. The fact that men do not facilitate women’s participation is not only the case in Islamic countries, but also in democracies.